Month: December 2018

In February we invited you to send us stories of the positive encounters or experiences you have with Harvest Land employees for our Salute to Service program. We asked you to share with us the instance of an employee going above and beyond, someone handling a difficult assignment with professionalism or an employee representing Harvest Land in an oustanding way.

We received 60 nominations from Harvest Land customers and employees nominating their peers. This was an amazing response to a simple ask! But it made our job difficult. We closed nominations in November and then asked our employee base to read through all nominations and choose their top three choices to win the 2018 Salute to Service Award.

At our cooperative Christmas party on December 8 the winner was announced. Today we want to share with you the winner:

John is a fuel driver out of our Greenville, Ohio location.

The winning submission:

“I was visiting my Grandma in early fall when John Bell arrived to fill her fuel tank. In her older age (she’s 88 and in poor health) Grandma is extremely paranoid about running out of fuel. She was so glad to see John pull down the farm lane. John topped off her tank, then came in to reassure her that he wouldn’t let her run out of fuel, ever. John could have left the ticket in the door and went about his business, but he stepped inside Grandma’s kitchen to check on her, ask her how she is feeling, then assure her fuel level was fine – even better now that he topped it off! As her granddaughter, I truly appreciate the time he took to deal with an 88-year-old lady who spends much of her day worrying. John was kind, reassuring and very pleasant. He represents Harvest Land so well and he made me proud to be associated with the cooperative.” Submitted by Lindsay Sankey

Below are five more nominations that were submitted on John’s behalf. In fact, not only did the above get the greatest number of votes, but John also had the most individual nominations!

“John Goes above and beyond for the company” Submitted by Doug Fark

“I’m writing to nominate John Bell (Greenville, OH Terminal) for your Salute to Service program. I’ve been with Trans Alliance, LLC in Greenville, OH for 6 years now, and for 5 of those years I’ve been handling the bulk fuel purchase and delivery. John looks out for our company like he is one of our employee’s. We receive fuel 3-4 times per week, but I feel it’s safe to say that John is probably here at least 5 days a week taking measurements to make sure we haven’t had an influx in fueling that could empty our tank. Numerous conversations have been had with John that he checked our tank the previous night, after everyone had left, never wanting us to run out. If he didn’t have the fuel on his truck that night, he’d make sure that we were the first stop the following morning. This means a lot to our company, me personally, and our drivers always know they’ll be able to fuel up at the yard. When John comes into our office to get a receipt signed, he says “Hello” to everyone,
and usually by name. Now I understand I deal with John on a daily basis, and it should be pretty easy to remember my name, but to say hello to the other 10 employees here at Trans Alliance by name is very impressive. As he leaves, a “See Ya/Have a good day” is said before he walks out the door. Reliability is a huge reason I feel John should be recognized for your program. As stated above, we always know they’ll be fuel in the tank. But I’ve called John on his cell many times with issues or questions, and he always answers when I call or returns the call ASAP! If we’ve got an issue with our tank or reader, he’s out there with tools in hand to try and fix it himself. Thanks to Harvest Land and John Bell for providing the quality fuel that keeps the trucks of Trans Alliance going down the road 365 days a year!” Submitted by Cory J. Griesdorn, TransAlliance

“I would like to submit the name of John Bell to receive an award for service beyond the call of duty. I believe he deserves the Salute to Service Award. Last winter, shortly after we had a new furnace installed, we woke up one morning with no heat. We called the furnace installation and they sent out a service man to check the furnace. He checked the furnace and could not find anything wrong. He checked our oil tank outside the house and said we were low on oil and the oil might be frozen and to call our oil delivery man. We called John Bell and he came out and checked our oil tank and found we were not low enough with oil to affect the furnace. He filled our tank but we still didn’t have any heat. He bled the oil line and we had heat after the house was really cold. He didn’t have to do this but he knew we needed heat. He stayed with us until we the house warm.” Submitted by Arthur Glover

“We nominate John Bell our Fuel Delivery Guy! John has shown his loyalty to Haves Land Coop by serving in a prompt manner whenever we call him for special delivery times it always seems like we are the next on his list or he is just around the corner. He has been pleasant and friendly. He has been very willing to iron out mistakes that we have produced and mistakes the Coop has produced. I hope your management team finds him in this manner also.” Submitted by David and Shari Harms

“I’d like to nominate John Bell as an employee to be commended on a job well done. John has serviced the property I live at for longer than I’ve owned it. Without a moment of hesitation, he remembered the property when I called him out of the blue to set up the first oil delivery. I find that remarkable given that he more than likely services hundreds of properties in the area. To date, John has consistently delivered within a few days of calling (as he always promises) and is very professional in his procedures. He offers advice when I ask questions and even offered to replace the oil tank gauges on my tanks for free. Again, John is an outstanding employee, please put him in for this wonderful ‘Salute to Service’ prize as he deserves to win every bit of it.” Submitted by Joshua Wilson

John pictured with Harvest Land President/CEO Scott Logue. John’s prize is $1,000 cash and two vacation days.

Congratulations to John!

We’re proud to have you represent our cooperative so well in the countryside.

We offer sincere thanks for all who nominated an employee for this program. reading through the submissions is one of the most gratifying things about working for your local farmer-owned cooperative.

With Christmas just days away, this Friday we wanted to publish a story that was shared with us, not by a customer, but by the daughter of a customer. This was actually a nomination for our Salute to Service program. While we’ve not announced the 2018 winner on our blog yet, we thought this week was a perfect time to share the story of Brian Henderson.

We received the following in the mail:

________________________________________

This is a copy of a handwritten letter by my 92-year-old mother, Charlotte Bailey. A handwritten letter is rare anymore, but Brian Henderson went above and beyond to help her and she wants you to know about it. His actions also helped me, her daughter. I do my best to care for her, but I struggle from some serious health problems and Brian’s intervention was a Godsend for us both.

It might be hard to read so I will type it out for you:

“It was a blustery, cold Saturday before Christmas Day on Monday. The thermometer was dropping and the little old lady (these are her words not mine) who lived back the lane began to wonder, “Is there enough fuel oil to last through the cold weekend weather until Tuesday when Harvest Land would be open?” So she called Harvest Land hoping someone would be at the office to help – she got a recorded message: “Open Tuesday.”

In a few moments, her phone rang. Someone had intercepted her call and a sympathetic voice inquired about the problem and the little old lady explained her anxiety. Within an hour on that windy Saturday evening, a Harvest Land fuel truck drove up the icy lane. The driver jumped out with wind and freezing rain hitting his face and with kindness and caring took care of the low oil worry for the little old lady back the lane.

Thank you so much Brian Henderson, for your big-hearted caring on a cold Christmas weekend. This is a truly happy Christmas story.”

In this world where so often a company puts their focus on their bottom line, it’s great you are recognizing your hard-working employees. Please thank Brian on our behalf and award him this honor from your company. He truly touched my mom’s heart and deserves this. Her name is Charlotte Bailey.

Submitted by Charlotte Bailey and Lori Stone (daughter of the little old lady who lives back the lane)

ONE: Plan

Planned programs are the only way to control this weed – there is no longer an easy button! Waterhemp isnt your average weed and has 1.5 times more seeds than other pigweed varieties and can grow one to two inches per day. Consider developing a program with your agronomist that is specific to your farm so you are prepared for when you first see the weed.

TWO: Identify

Waterhemp has been around for a number of years, coming in our area from the west, but unfortunately it’s not on growers’ radar until it’s on their farm for three or so years. Scout early and often, the key to controlling waterhemp is to make applications while it is still small. Waterhemp begins to grow as soon as the soil warms and the sun is out.

THREE: Attack

A combination of residuals (they stay in the soil) and post-emergence application are key. But don’t get too comfy after treating it once, waterhemp grows in flushes and it may take more than one application to control it.

Click below to watch Agronomist Steve Dlugosz and YieldPro Specialist Mark Richey talk about waterhemp and what farmers can do to prevent the weed.